Public opinion remains fiercely divided on the complex issue of voluntary euthanasia, despite a majority saying they would support a ‘right to die’.

Cambridge University researchers polled around 2,000 people in the UK and US, asking if they would want the choice to end their life if they suffered from a progressive illness such as dementia.

While one in six people said they believed measures must be taken to sustain life at any cost, more than twice as many said they would want to be able to decide to die in the final stages of a degenerative illness.

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To capture the ‘nuances’ around the issue, the team developed a six-stage vignette featuring a fictitious person living in a care home.

The patient’s abilities in decision-making capacity and swallowing were declining, and in the final stage was bedbound, unable to swallow, spent most of their time asleep and had no capacity to make decisions about their care.

They were asked to choose between four care preferences: sustain life by using any means necessary, including forced feeding and deprivation of liberty; encourage, but not impose, nutrition and hydration by tube or other means; no intervention for artificial nutrition and hydration, but continuation of oral nutrition and hydration as far as possible; and provide measures to help peaceful death.

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The researchers say their findings highlight the ethical problems facing carers and medics.

“Debate surrounding assisted dying goes to the heart of clinical ethical principles,” said Dr Gemma Clarke from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care.

“Some argue that for a doctor to assist a patient to die is fundamentally inconsistent with their professional role, while others say that delaying death could increase unnecessary physical and psychological suffering, and that patients should have the right to autonomy over their own bodies.”

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The survey found very similar patterns in the views of British and American respondents, with one in six (17 per cent) expressing a preference for being tube-fed when the condition had progressed to near the end of life.

The researchers argue this suggests a significant minority have a moral view that life should be supported, even by invasive medical treatment, regardless of the family or medical team’s perception of the individual’s quality of life.

However 37 per cent chose to provide measures to help peaceful death at the final stages.

The study found the age of the participant, or having previous experience of caring for someone with a similar illness, both affected their opinions, making it even harder for legislators to write appropriate laws.

Senior author Dr Stephen Barclay said: “The challenge for legislators is to enact legal frameworks that enable these diverse views and preferences to be respected.

“The challenge for health and social care professionals is to ensure optimal palliative and end of life care provision for all, in accordance with their wishes and preferences.”